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1989 Supreme(Pat) 209

PATNA HIGH COURT
S.N.Jha and N.Pandey JJ.
Mohd.Abbas @ Hassan Abbas
Versus
A.G.M.Trust
Appeal from Appellate Decree No. 325 of 1985 ; 326 of 1985 ; 327 of 1985 ; 328 of 1985 ;
Decided On : JULY 01, 1989

The Board had no power and jurisdiction to appoint the new Managing Committee for the management and control of the property or of A.G.M. Trust and Z.A. Islamia College, as long Md. Ghani is the Mutawalli and has not been removed from his office in accordance with law.

Headnote:

WAQF ACT, 1954 - SECTION 43 - WAQF BOARD - POWER TO APPOINT MANAGING COMMITTEE - CONDITIONS PRECEDENT - REMOVAL OR SUPERSESSION OF MUTAWALLI OR MANAGING COMMITTEE - JURISDICTION.

Fact of the Case:

Plaintiffs filed suits for declaration that Memo No. 694 dated 17-4-1982 issued by Chairman, Bihar State Sunni Waqf Board (Board) creating a new Managing Committee, is illegal, without jurisdiction and beyond the rights of the Board. The Waqf created by the plaintiff No. 2 was only a conditional one and not waqf in perpetuity. The newly committee has no right or authority to manage or deal with any of the property of the plaintiff No. 1 and plaintiff No. 3 and such Committee has no right to interfere with the management and affairs of the College.

Finding of the Court:

The court held that the Board had no power and jurisdiction to appoint the new Managing Committee for the management and control of the property or of A.G.M. Trust and Z.A. Islamia College, as long Md. Ghani is the Mutawalli and has not been removed from his office in accordance with law.

Issues: Whether the Bihar State Sunni Waqf Board had authority under the law to form the Committee, which is under challenge by the plaintiffs? Whether the order in regard to formation of the Committee impliedly includes an order of removal of the plaintiffs from the management of the Waqf in question ; and Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the suits are maintainable.

Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the Board had no power and jurisdiction to appoint the new Managing Committee for the management and control of the property or of A.G.M. Trust and Z.A. Islamia College, as long Md. Ghani is the Mutawalli and has not been removed from his office in accordance with law. The court relied on the provisions of Section 43 of the Waqf Act, 1954, which deals with the power of the Board for removal of the Mutawalli and the Managing Committee and the remedy of such Mutawalli or the Committee against such removal by way of appeal etc. The court held that in the present case, there was no order by the Board either for removal of the Mutawalli or for supersession of the Managing Committee, and therefore, the Board had no power to appoint the new Managing Committee.

Final Decision: The court dismissed the appeals filed by the defendants.

Judgment

N.Pandey, J.

1. All these four appeals were heard together as they arise out of the same judgment and they are being disposed of by this common judgment with the consent of the parties.

2. These four second appeals have been filed at the instance of the defendants, arising out of Title Suit Nos. 127/2 of 1982/84 and Title suit No. 180/3 of 1982/84, filed by the plaintiffs for declaration that Memo No. 694 dated 17-4-1982 issued by Chairman, Bihar State Sunni Waqf Board (hereinafter to be referred as the Board) creating a new Managing Committee, is illegal, without jurisdiction and beyond the rights of the Board The Waqf created by the plaintiff No. 2 was only a conditional one and not waqf in perpetuity. The newly committee has no right or authority to manage or deal with any of the property of the plaintiff No. 1 and plaintiff No. 3 and such Committee has no right to interfere with the management and affairs of the College The plaintiffs had also claimed for permanent injunction, restraining the defendants from convening the meeting and taking control over the properties of trust and college. The suits of the plaintiffs were dismissed before the trial court, but the plaintiffs succeeded before the appellate court and the defendants were permanently restrained from interfering with the control and administration of A.G. Trust and L.A. Islamia College. The defendants, being aggrieved by the judgment of appellate court, have preferred these second appeals.

3. Earlier by the judgment and order dated 14-11-1986 a Bench of this Court, after hearing the parties and considering the facts of this case, held that large number of relevant pieces of evidence have not been considered by the lower appellate court, which renders the finding of the fact vulnerable under Sec. 100 of Code of Civil Procedure. Several observations of the appellate court were found to be contradictory to each other. In the circumstances, the cases were remitted back before the lower appellate court for re-consideration But the plaintiffs filed Civil appeal No. 550-33 of 1987 before the Hon ble Supreme Court and ultimately by an order dated 27-2-1987, the aforesaid judgment was set aside, holding that it was not open to the High Court to set aside the judgment of the lower appellate court and remand the matter to the lower court for writing a fresh judgment. It has been held that if the findings are vulnerable, it is open to the High Court, in course of exercise of powers under Sec. 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure, to set aside those findings. If, on the other hand, the additional evidence which the High Court considers appropriate to receive even at the stage of second appeal in accordance with law, is in form of document and does not require any formal proof, the High Court can receive additional evidence itself and proceed to determine the matter in a accordance with law. On remand when these appeals were taken up for hearing, none of the parties expressed any desire to adduce any additional evidence, therefore, the hearing of the case proceeded on the basis of the materials already on record.

4. Before considering the rival submissions made by the learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the parties and discussing the merit of the case, it would be appropriate to mention certain facts of the case.

5. The case of the plaintiffs is that M. N. Ahmad Ghani along with his two sisters, sons, daughters, relations and with few outsiders founded Abdul Ghani Memorial Trust in memory of his late father on 21-8-1971. The trust was created for imparting higher education to the Muslim community in particular. M. N. Ahmad Ghani was appointed Nazim of the Crust with a power of veto in the Governing Body and right to remain Nazim of the Trust till his life time and in the event of his relinquishment, the post of Nazim was to be given to the persons nominated by him or to his successors.

6. Pursuant to the creation of the aforementioned Trust, Z. A. Islamia College was






































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